Check out this piece of propaganda from News.com.au:
'IT'S a key plank of every Aussie's financial security, but it has become a "broken system" that seriously favours the rich at the expense of everyone else.'
We won't pretend that super is perfect; it's not. In fact, we have a philosophical problem with it. We don't like it that the government forces your employer to withhold 9.5% of your salary in the first place.
But see how the attitude to super has changed in the mainstream? It wasn't so long ago that the mainstream (rightly or wrongly) praised super as the best retirement system in the world.
And yet today, thanks to a propaganda campaign by vested interests, it's now a 'broken system' that 'favours the rich at the expense of everyone else.'
We'll be blunt: Class warfare has broken out in Australia, and your private wealth is under imminent threat of confiscation.
Super for roads
When the government and lobby groups start attacking the rich, you know you're in trouble.
The rich are rich because they generally know how to keep their money safe from the government's grubby little hands.
Everyone else isn't so lucky.
When the rich go to see their tax advisor, the advisor will show them how to minimise taxes.
When everyone else goes to see their tax advisor, the advisor will play it straight down the line.
So whenever the government targets the so-called rich, it's not actually the rich who suffer, it's everyone else.
That's why we caution folks not to cheer so much when governments introduce policies to clamp down on the rich.
But the attack on super isn't just about that. The biggest threat is from the folks who want to get their hands on your money in order to spend it on pet projects.
Take this report from the Herald Sun:
'SUPERANNUATION funds should be used to bankroll new roads in Wyndham, a councillor says
'Councillor Heather Marcus has called on the Federal Government to start a superannuation scheme that would use cash from Australian superannuation funds worth more than $1 trillion to fund projects to combat congestion.'
Got that?
Folks now want your super money to pay for roads. And we're not talking toll roads either. At least that would generate some form of income.
Toll roads go bust too
This is the great myth of the super industry and the lobby groups. It's the idea that infrastructure on its own can build an economy.
That's completely wrong. Infrastructure projects should arise as a result of a productive economy. A business that expects to see a big increase in product sales may build extra infrastructure (such as a private roads, ports or rail lines) in order to cope with the demand.
But building something just for the sake of building something doesn't necessarily improve the economy. And it won't necessarily result in an income stream.
Exactly how would an extra lane on a toll-free road generate income?
Besides, let's not assume that all toll roads make money either. Perhaps you saw this report in the Sydney Morning Herald this week:
'IFM Investors has made its biggest international investment after acquiring an American tollroad part-owned by Macquarie that went bankrupt last year for $7.5 billion.
'IFM has acquired the Indiana Toll Road Concession, a 253-kilometre highway that runs from the border of Indiana and Ohio towards Chicago, giving it the rights to operate and maintain the road for the next 66 years.
'The road, previously jointly owned by Macquarie and Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September due to poor traffic volumes and was put up for sale.'
Oh dear. And yet, if you listen to the lobbyists and the government, infrastructure projects are some sort of goose which continuously lays golden eggs.
Except they don't. Infrastructure projects have this tiny thing called 'maintenance costs'. It's not cheap to keep a road or bridge or rail line in good order.
But the lobbyists are trying to sell you on the idea that this is the most effective way to spend your super money. At the moment, the lobbyists are winning the argument.
The government has a $361 billion debt (that's up $3 billion in two weeks), a $32 billion budget deficit, and an election to win. What better way to win it than to raid your super in order to pay for a whole bunch of infrastructure projects in key marginal constituencies?
Surely you jest if you want the likes of Goldaman Sachs. J.P. Morgan to look after your super.